How to NOT ask for a warm intro to get a warm intro
The problem with warm intros is getting the warm intro.
New rule: Stop asking for warm intros
The problem with warm intros is getting the warm intro.
Most of the time, asking for an intro into one of your target accounts is not worth the social capital, time, and effort.
Why?
â›” ~70% of the time, the Connector doesn't have a strong relationship with the prospect (especially if you're solely relying on 1st degree LinkedIn connections)
â›” There are too many steps between making the ask and getting the meeting
1. Identify the Connector
2. Write the message
3. Find the email of the Connector
4. Send the Connector an intro request via email
5. Wait for the Connector to respond
6. The Connector sends the intro request
7. Wait for the Prospect to respond and opt-in to the intro
8. Connector copies the seller on the thread
9. The Seller closes the loop with the Connector a few days later
10. The Seller now owes a favor to the Connector
That’s a lot of effort (even if many steps are automated).
What's the alternative?
💡 Reference the Connector in your outbound.
We recently experimented with asking for the intro and NOT asking for the intro with a Series C software company.
Test A: Asked one of their executives to make a warm intro to a prospect.
Test B: Turned their power users into referrers. Referenced the names of their power users in outbound emails.
Results of Test A:
â›” Took 2 weeks for executives to respond to the request
â›” Most of the responses from execs were things like "I don't know that person" OR "I don't feel comfortable making the intro for XYZ reason."
â›” Not repeatable
â›” Minimal return on effort
Results from Test B:
✅ Took 1 week to launch the campaign
✅ Within 24 hours of launch, 4% reply rate and 2% of leads booked a meeting (4X higher than the status quo)
✅ Every month, they activate a new cohort of power users to become referrers
✅ High return on effort
Here is the winning outbound template for Test B:
"Hi {{FirstName}} - Noticed you crossed paths with [Connector]. [Connector] is one of the most active users of our RevOps tool. Open to learning how [Connector] uses us to improve forecasting?"